I used to read fitness mags to learn about new exercises but I haven't picked one up in years and according to a new study, you might not want to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25291978/
"Garvin and colleagues recruited 92 college women to spend half an hour on an exercise bike while reading either Oxygen magazine (a fitness magazine featuring very fit, muscular women), Oprah magazine (more general interest) or nothing at all. The women were randomly assigned to a reading category but were allowed to exercise at the intensity of their choice.
Results, which were presented recently at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, showed that the group of women who read Oxygen while exercising were more anxious, depressed and in an all-around poorer mood after exercise than before, as determined by standardized psychological scales. By comparison, the groups of women who read Oprah or no magazine experienced expected improvements in their mood from exercise.
The results suggest that negative effects of reading ultra-fit magazines may cancel out the mood-boosting effects of exercise, says Garvin. Exactly why is unclear, though she speculates that women may become depressed because they feel they’ll never look as good as the magazine models or that the women already look fit but have low self-esteem and seeing the images doesn’t help."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25291978/
Quote:
"Garvin and colleagues recruited 92 college women to spend half an hour on an exercise bike while reading either Oxygen magazine (a fitness magazine featuring very fit, muscular women), Oprah magazine (more general interest) or nothing at all. The women were randomly assigned to a reading category but were allowed to exercise at the intensity of their choice.
Results, which were presented recently at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, showed that the group of women who read Oxygen while exercising were more anxious, depressed and in an all-around poorer mood after exercise than before, as determined by standardized psychological scales. By comparison, the groups of women who read Oprah or no magazine experienced expected improvements in their mood from exercise.
The results suggest that negative effects of reading ultra-fit magazines may cancel out the mood-boosting effects of exercise, says Garvin. Exactly why is unclear, though she speculates that women may become depressed because they feel they’ll never look as good as the magazine models or that the women already look fit but have low self-esteem and seeing the images doesn’t help."